


Ego

by Ahtai



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Spoilers, Very brief mentions of other characters, this is just a short v character study and exploring the thought behind the decisions he makes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:48:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28207083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ahtai/pseuds/Ahtai
Summary: SPOILERS FOR MAJOR QUESTLINESV thinks it’s scary how, despite touching so many lives, he only really cares about himself.Does that make him a selfish person?
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	Ego

**Author's Note:**

> kind of a character study and maybe prequel to my series. enjoy

He finds Evelyn Parker, broken, but the only thing he can think about is how she can’t shed any light on his situation if she’s like  _ this _ . 

It’s at that point, V thinks that he might be a tad bit self-centered.

He pawns her off onto Judy, who willingly takes her and wouldn’t have it any other way anyway, and doesn’t think about her wellbeing much after that.

Instead, he focuses on other things, like trying to find Anders Hellman, or going along with Takemura to try and convince Hanako Arasaka that he’s not the real culprit of Saburo Arasaka’s murder. Amidst all this, he barely goes to see Viktor and Misty and Mama Welles, which he feels kind of bad for because they're all so worried about him, but hey, he's busy trying to save his own life. 

Somehow he’s got Panam convinced that he’s a great person and that he deserves to be part of her family- Which is weird, he thinks, how she doesn’t seem to blame him for Scorpion’s death even though he’s the root cause, but he’s just glad she’s on his side and not trying to get revenge on him. He has enough on his plate at the time being and doesn't have to deal with a group of pissed off nomads on his ass.

Sure he helps her again when she calls him, and again when she calls again, but it's because she might be able to help him with this Johnny situation and it's good to keep his options open. 

If they're willing to die for him, he's going to take advantage of that.

Good Takemura has honor, and he very easily takes advantage of that. He's only along for the ride and sure, he rescues Takemura from the raid on the abandoned apartment building, but that's only because he won't be blamed for the kidnapping for Hanako Arasaka, right? Without him alive, V would be the only one (aside from Johnny, but he won't be any help obviously) with knowledge of what went on, and he doubts the Arasaka woman would stick her neck out for him like he apparently did for her precious brother.

All this time, Johnny goads him for the thoughts in his head, and V wonders if he's becoming more like him.

Johnny seems like an asshole. He gets that impression from the very start and it only gets reinforced the more he peers into his memories. Selfish, self-centered, attention seeking. He kind of hates the way he treats people around him, but wonders if he's any better if he keeps people around just to fulfill his own goal.

V ends up shaving his head so he's less like Johnny, which he takes as some sort of personal win even though it really means nothing.

And now, sitting in front of Johnny in this radioactive looking swamp, he sees that the man is also changing.

"The guy who saved my life." He replies when Johnny asks him what he would write, but even that feels extremely selfish. His life is all he cares about now? They sit there for a while, and then he's dragged along on a grand adventure where he gets to sit back and let Johnny pilot the body. Being in his own head feels weird, but it gives him time to think without feeling like the pressure is crushing him from each and every direction.

He thinks about his own goals in life and how this experience has changed him. What good would it be for him to have his body back if he doesn't have a goal anymore? Becoming a legend was never his, saving his own life is temporary- Either he succeeds or he fails, then that quest is over.

What's next? What was before Johnny, what was before Jackie? How do you survive without a drive in Night City?

He watches as Johnny catches up with his friends and has the time of his life. It seems to him that they've been going in opposite directions- Johnny's learning how to care about people, how weird. 

Maybe, just maybe, he has some things to reconsider.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
